There are a vast number of known phenolic compounds or phenolics (e.g., flavonoids) with a variety of known beneficial uses. Phenolic and polyphenolic compounds are found widely in nature: in cereals, legumes, nuts, oilseeds, plant oils, fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, cocoa, beer, wine, herbal products, such as Echinacea, ginseng, gingko biloba, St. John's wort, valerian, hawthorne, ginger, licorice, milk thistle, goldenseal, devil's claw, black cohosh, saw palmetto, and kava kava, for example. These substances are essential for growth and reproduction of plants and serve as antifeedants and antipathogens, among other purposes. Phenolic compounds can also aid in the maintenance of food, fresh flavor, taste, color, and prevention of oxidation deterioration. Many phenolic compounds are attracting the attention of food and medical scientists because of their antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic properties, and their capacity to modulate key cellular enzyme function. Phenolics pigment plant products and function as antibiotics, natural pesticides, signal substances for the establishment of symbiosis with rhizobia, attractants for pollinators, protective agents against ultraviolet light, insulating materials to make cell walls impermeable to gas and water, and as structural materials to give plants stability. The members of this class have many valuable uses in the fields of nutrition, nutriceuticals, pharmaceuticals, medicine, agriculture, chemistry, and in other fields of technology.
Unfortunately, phenolic compounds generally can be difficult to dissolve in water or the human body and can also be very difficult to polymerize in the phenolic state. Due to the availability and numerous uses of phenolics, it is desirable to enhance their native value by, for example, providing compounds or combinations of compounds with a specific controlled degradation profile or range enabling controlled release of the phenolic over an extended, controllable time range.